Inhaler



- March 2, 1948. J, B, BED RMAN 2,436,877

IINHALER Filed Oct. 6, 1943 I m F1 U.

INVENTOR. JOSEPH B BIEDERMAN Atwmg Patented Mar. 2, 1943 U T ZD: I PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to improvementsin an 1 Claim. (01. 128 -200) t r Fig. 2, showing a modification in the construction of the container.

Fig. 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 9-9 on Fig. 8 and showing one member of pensive, thereby increasing thecost to the user aclosure forth ntai r.

of an inhaler without increasing the efliciency of the device. Furthermore, inhalers asiheretofore used had no means of regulation,'that is, no way to regulate the amount of the drug, medicine or fumes which the user could inhale at any given time wherefore, the user always received a full dose whether itwas necessary or not. By this invention there is provided an inhaler utilizing an inexpensive container thereby enabling the, production of an-inhaler which is economical 1 to purohaseand use,- and at the same timeprovide an inhalerfrom which a, regulated amount of medicine .in. the form of vapor .may be extracted. A I It is; therefore, ,an object of; t

vision of an inhaler 'container...pro.vided. with means whereby the vapor; extractedftherefromcanberegulated. l

Another object of this invention the pride sion. of an inhaler container that canbe shut off to prevent the extraction of. medicatedyaporfs or can be adjustedv to permit varyingiamount-spf the vapors up to a maximum..

Other objects and advantages of.,the present invention should be readilyqapparent byrefer ence to the following specificationconsidered in.

conjunction with the accompanying i drawings forming a part thereof and it is to be'understood that any modifications may be made inthe, exact structural, details there shown and described, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from or exceeding the spirit of the invention. 7 K

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the o'on tainer of this invention. I

Fig. 2 is -a vertical sectional view through the device of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the deviceasseen I in entionto.

provide an inhaler. containergof, simple ;inexpen-,-

sive construction yet efficient-ind scretion... 1

Another. object of this .inventionsisrtheypro Fig. 10 is a horizontal sectional view taken in a plane below that of Fig. 9 on line I0| 0 on Fig. 8 and. showing the second member of the container closure.

9 I Throughout the several views of the drawings similar reference characters are employed to denote the same or similar parts.

As was noted above, this invention pertains to an inhaler and particularly to the casing or 1 5 container thereof. This inhaler is of the type commonly used in the treatment of head colds for permitting the administering of vapors to the nasal and head passages to ease the discomfort resulting from the cold.

2Q Specifically the inhaler casing comprises a body member ID having atone end a bottom member H and at its other end a top member l2. The body member I0 is formed of a sheet of thin metal rolled to have the opposite ends of the 2 5 sheet in abutment and secured to one another by solder as at 13. The lower end of the body member ID is provided with a series of holes or apertures M which, sequentially, are spaced at equal distances from each other circumferential- 13 1), 1y of the lower end of the said body member and preferably diametrically arranged.

The bottom member II is substantially cup shaped, including the bottom [5 with a flange 16 rising therefrom within which the said lower 8; end of the body I 0 is received. The bottom mem- 'ber. flange I6 is provided with a series of holes from adjacent apertures. bottom member H, similar to the apertures l4 11in the body member H), are diametrically arranged. v

The bottom member I l is loose on the body It! to the extent necessary so that it may be rotated or adjusted thereon but not loose enough 45 that it falls by its own weight from the said body,

memben By this construction the bottom mem-- her I I may be arranged with respect to the body ID to have its apertures l1 located between the apertures 14 of the body member In and thereby prevent any air passage through the said aper-. tures. By the arrangement just described the bottom ,member Il may be adjusted so that each of the apertures I1 is in registry with its corresponding aperture l4 whereupon a maximum 55 amount ofair is permitted to enter the lower end of tl e body member or tube it]. It will be read- 0 out of alinement thereby cutting down the smeunt" of air admitted to the bottom of the tube or body member 10 by so much as the said apertures are out of alinement. By this construction a minimum amount of air can be admitted to the tube and this amount increased as desired to maximum or full aperture opening.

The top member I2 is provided with a flange 18 within which is received the upper end of the body member or tube 16. Extending from the upper end of the flange I8 is a conical portion I9 which terminates in a flat portion 26. The flat portion 20 is provided substantially centrally thereof with an aperture 2|. In use the conical portion 1 9 of the top is inserted within the nostril opening and an inhalation effected through the nostril.

By this construction, inhalation through the nostril draws air through the tube or body member l across the medicine indicated in Figs. 2 and 8 by the reference numeral 39. The amount of medicine laden air or vapor drawn through the aperture 2| depends upon the relative position of the apertures I1 and 14 which, as above set forth, if in alinement or coincidence, as illustrated in Fig. 6, permits maximum amount of air and, therefore, a maximum amount of vapor or medicine to be inhaled, while if the parts are in adjustment as illustrated in Fig; 5 there is substantially no vapor or medicine laden air flowing into the nostril and when adjustment of the parts is between the two extremes of Figs. 5 and 6 the vapor delivery will be varied accordingly.

In order to prevent inadvertent loss of vapor through the opening 2| when the inhaler is not in use in the nostril, use is made of a closure cap 22 which has a flange portion 23 to encircle the flange 18 of the. top member 12. The upper end of the cap flange 23 is integral with a dome like or semi-spherical member 24 which closes the opening 2|.

The modification shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 utilizes the cylinder or body member 16, the bottom member II and the top member 12 each as above described. Instead of the closure cap 22, or in addition thereto, use is made of a closure mechanism arranged within the body member 10 and top member 12. This closure member comprises a pair of plates 25 and 26, respectively, secured in the upper end of the body member or tube 10 and at the upper end of the top member flange 18; the plates 25 and 26 are adapted to slide on one another upon rotation of the top member 12 and are each provided with a similar substantially semi-circular aperture 27 and 28 respectively. As seen in Figs. 9 and 10, the semicircular apertures 2'1 and 28 have the same radius from the center of theplatezs and may be made to more or less overlap depending upon the position of the top member 12. In other words the top member 12 may be rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise to cause the aperture 27 in the plate 26 to be placed over the aperture 28 in the plate 25. It will be understood that this can be a full coincidence thereby permitting the maximum flow through the said apertures or the over positioning the plates 25 and 26 as illustrated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 the top of the tube I0 is closed to permit no flow therethrough.

This construction could be placed at the lower end of the body portion and utilize the bottom l5 of the bottom member I I as the rotatable plate and having an arcuate or elongated aperture therein cooperating with a plate secured in the lower end of the body member or tube In and likewise having anarcuate or elongated aperture therein.

It will be understood that instead of supplying the bottom closure member I l with a plurality of small apertures 11 and the lower end of the tube ID with a plurality of small apertures 14, use ma be made in each instance of an elongated aperture which in the closed position would have positions relative to one another as illustrated in Fig. 9 with respect to apertures 27 and 29, while in the open position the said elongated apertures may more or less coincide.

From the foregoing it will be noted that there has been provided an inexpensive container for forming an inhaler and one which embodies I means whereby the amount of air to the inhaler and/or the amount of vapor drawn from the tube or body member ID is regulated.

What is claimed is:

In an inhaler container a cylindrical body member having its lower end open to permit insertion of medicine, a cup like bottom member for closing the open end of the body member and having a flat bottom and an upwardly projecting relatively short flange exteriorally of and receiving the lower end portion of the body member, said bottom member flange and body member end portion within said flange being rotatable relative to one another, each having apertures adapted to be brought into more or less registry upon relative rotation to regulate the amount of air admitted to the body member, said body member enclosing medicine adapted to be picked up by the air, a top member on said body member provided with an aperture through which the medicine laden air passes, said top apertured plate carried by the body member, said lap may be ver minute thereby permitting a minplates being rotatable relative to one another for bringing the apertures into more or less re istry to regulate the amount of medicine laden air drawn through the apertured top member.

JOSEPH B. BIEDERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 439,707 Warren et a1 Nov. 4, 1890 438,102 DOW et al. Oct. 7, 1890 368,991 Berke Aug. 30, 1887' 1,267,617 Ahern May 28, 1918 1,459,478 Page June 19, 1923 1,585,466 Coles May 18, 1926 384,589 Palmer June 12, 1888 2,064,314 Morin Dec. 15, 1936 1,985,001 Thometz e0. 18, 1934 v FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 537,671 France May 27, 1922 18,881 Great Britain 1901 

